I love Aussie YA. I love reading books from authors that live in the same country as me, that know things that people out of Australia might be so confused about. I love how sometimes they can incorporate this into their book and it is fabulous. 

So in saying that, I have decided to start a new feature on Angel Reads spotlighting Australian YA Authors. Each Friday for the next couple of months, I am going to interview an OZYA Author. I thought it would be a fun way to share my love for Australian Young Adult authors with not only fellow Aussies, but everyone around the world. I want more Australian YA books to be read, because they are amazing. 

First week I interview Sarah Ayoub, then Fleur Ferris, followed by Will Kostakis, then Shivaun Plozza, and Gabrielle Tozer, followed by Jay Kristoff and then last week Kylie Fornasier. This week we have none other than Ellie Marney author of the Every Series (2013, Allen and Unwin). 

Hi Ellie, and welcome to Angel Reads. First can you introduce yourself to everyone? Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hey Angel, thanks for having me to visit. I’m Ellie Marney, I’m a teacher and a writer of YA fiction – I wrote a YA crime series, the Every series (Every Breath, Every Word, Every Move) that has gone out to readers in eight countries – yay Rachel and Mycroft!

What has your writing journey been like? Where did you start? Why?

I started writing in primary school, so yes, I caught the bug early.  I think it was a direct consequence of being a big reader.  I think my writing journey looks – from the outside – like a fairly straight line, but from my end it looks more like a twisty turny caterpillar trail.  Every Breath was a bit of a hit, but like I said, I’ve been writing a very long time.  I wrote stories as a kid, then when I went to uni and studied literature, I became very intimidated, so I stopped writing altogether for years. 

I got back into writing through fanfiction – it’s a great way to write anonymously, get feedback, and (as Amie Kaufman once said) ‘build your writing muscles’.  I wrote about seventy fic stories, publishing them under a pseudonym, before I got my mojo back and started writing originals again.  Then I entered some stories in competitions, to test the waters…and I won the Scarlet Stiletto Award in 2010 (through Sisters in Crime Australia).  Everything took off after that.

What was the process of getting your first book published?

I wrote Every Breath in about six months, then spent about a year polishing it (as you do, when you have no obligations re: deadlines) before submitting it to publishers and agents.  It was accepted by Allen & Unwin, the first publisher I approached, and I ended up being represented by Catherine Drayton of Inkwell Management, the first agent I approached.  I think that qualifies as a bit of a dream run with a first book.

Was it different when getting your proceeding books published?

Why YES, it’s interesting you asked!  Allen & Unwin really got behind Every Breath in a big way; well before the book was published they were championing it all over and generally being awesome, and they asked me to write a sequel.  Which was good, because I already had half a book’s worth of sequel ready to go!  But the timelines for each subsequent book got shorter – I had nine months between each release – which was very demanding, especially for Every Move, when I had to write and edit a book, and prep it for publication, inside nine months.  It was such a hard book to write and I was frantic right up to the to-print date.

What was the difference between getting your books published here in Australia and internationally?

When the books went international, the covers were changed – they were hardcovers, for a start (why don’t we have hardcovers for YA in Australia?  I don’t know.  Maybe people don’t think Oz teens can look after nice things!), and the designs and taglines all changed.  They also changed some of the lingo, like asphalt for bitumen, and flashlights for torches, and flip flops for thongs etc – but that was mainly to clarify meaning for overseas readers (you can particularly understand about the thongs).  Most of the Aussie content was retained, which really surprised me, so there are still references to all the Melbourne locations, like the MCG and Sydney Road, and all the swearing is still authentically Aussie, which made me very happy. 

You are an OZYA author, what are some of your favourite Aussie YA books?

Is this where I get on the desk and shout ‘MELINA MARCHETTA FOREVER’?  Because she is like my OzYA superhero.  I’ve also been in love with John Marsden’s Tomorrow series since they were first published (Homer ftw, by the way), Simmone Howell’s work, and I’ve always loved Cath Crowley and Leanne Hall’s This is Shyness duology. 

New YA is much harder to nail down, because there’s so much great stuff out there…but I think some of the coolest OzYA books I’ve read recently are Summer Skin (Kirsty Eagar), Illuminae (Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff), Calypso Summer (Jared Thomas), Black Spring (Alison Croggan) and Clancy and the Undertow (Chris Currie).

I have read all three books in the Every Series and gosh did I love them. They are fantastic, engaging, full of romance and crime – it’s brilliant. You can find Ellie at @elliemarney  on twitter, elliemarney.com and add her books on your goodreads. 

Every Breath by Ellie Marney

Pages: 335
Publish date: 5th Spetember 2013
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
ISBN: 1743316429
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks